The Later King Years

During the final part of their career, the Stanley Brothers did most of their recording for the King label, laying down almost 200 sides for the company between 1958 and 1965. All of those tracks are available in box set form should you want them, but the ordinary fan will be satisfied with more selective samplers such as this one/a>

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Overview

During the final part of their career, the Stanley Brothers did most of their recording for the King label, laying down almost 200 sides for the company between 1958 and 1965. All of those tracks are available in box set form should you want them, but the ordinary fan will be satisfied with more selective samplers such as this one, which has a couple dozen cuts originally released in 1961-1966. The Stanley Brothers were a consistent enough act that the songs picked for best-of comps are pretty much up to the taste of the compiler, but this does a fine job both in the quality and the variety of the material presented. In addition to plenty of originals, there are also interpretations of songs by A.P. Carter, Alton Delmore, and traditional items. The sentimental "Old and in the Way" might be the most familiar tune here, if for no other reason than having inspired the name of Jerry Garcia's side-project band with David Grisman. It's not necessarily the highlight, however, the other tracks covering up-tempo romps ("Fast Express"), close-harmony ballads, train songs, and even the odd holiday outing ("Christmas Is Near," "Just Because") and cuts tinged with novelty effects ("Keep Them Cold Icy Fingers off Me," "Train 45"). The liner notes give a good overview of both the Stanley Brothers' King years and the recordings specific to this anthology.